March 16th, Wednesday.

After a routine update, the gog mobile game launched a new event.

Clash of Gods at the Summit!

The event clearly stated that gog's ranked matches would adopt a season mode. This year was the first season, and the spring season would end on March 29th and be settled on March 31st.

At the end of the season, rewards totaling 9.5 million would be distributed based on players' rankings!

This was in cash, not in-game currency!

The top players in both the PC and mobile versions of the game would each receive a grand prize of 100,000 yuan!

Moreover, rewards would be given all the way down to 500th place, which was the Grand Master rank, with a minimum reward of 5,000 yuan!

The most alarming thing was that the PC version of gog hadn't officially launched yet, and wouldn't be available until next Monday.

Starting next Monday, the 21st, and lasting until midnight on the 29th, players would have eight days to grind and the chance to win 100,000 yuan!

As soon as this announcement came out, players were shocked, and some even suspected it was fake news.

"Crazy, absolutely crazy! Spending ten million in less than half a month?"

"It's not just now, but every three months in the future, they'll be spending ten million, for a total of forty million per year!"

"This game's monetization model is already very fair. I highly doubt this kind of spending can be sustained."

"Tengda always keeps its word and has good credit, so there's no need to worry."

"I'm not worried about Tengda's credit, I'm worried about their money..."

"It looks like Tengda is really going all out this time. It seems the higher-ups have a very optimistic view of the gog project, so they're willing to spend a lot of money to take down ioi and *Revelation*."

"To be fair, Tengda's higher-ups are the most ambitious I've ever seen. Every decision they make makes you think, 'Has Tengda gone crazy?' But every time, after making similar decisions, their business starts to take off!"

"This is Tengda's superpower. Although they don't make a lot of money, they dare to spend it! There are companies with more money than Tengda, but none of them have this kind of ambition!"

"I'm not going to say anything else. I'm going to download gog right now. Earning 5,000 yuan for a week of grinding is a steal!"

"I just pre-ordered the ottoe1 phone, but I don't know when it will arrive. It's out of stock again at a critical moment. I knew this was a hunger marketing strategy!"

"Can't any phone play it?"

"Any phone can play it, but the otto phone has an exclusive high frame rate mode. How can someone who wants to reach the Summit of the Gods be constrained by hardware? They definitely need a good phone specifically for the game, and all the skins!"

"There are too many people on the mobile version, so I probably won't be able to count on that. I'm going to get a new computer and wait for the PC version to go live. Anyway, there are 500 people in both the PC and mobile versions, so I'll try to at least grab the tail end of the PC master rank!"

"A few of my buddies have a lot of experience with *Revelation* and ioi. I'm going to get them to switch to gog!"

"After playing gog for a day, I feel that this game's success isn't accidental. The game mechanics are rich, the pace is fast, the hero designs are likable, the network environment is good, it's stable with no bugs, and you can log in with your Tengda Games account to directly invite friends... Compared to those two foreign games, it's so much more convenient!"

Discussions like this could be seen everywhere online. In just one day, the game seemed to have become a household name!

Of course, gog's popularity was still limited to a small circle.

Currently, mmorpgs are still the undisputed leaders in the game market. Although *Revelation*, ioi, and gog have a certain player base, the player bases of the three games largely overlap.

In other words, the three games are fighting each other, mainly competing for moBA game players, or more precisely, ioi is competing for *Revelation*'s old players, and gog is competing for the old players of both *Revelation* and ioi.

As for fresh blood, it is only slowly trickling in.

However, gog's move of "spending a fortune" has indeed had an effect, not only attracting a large number of old ioi and *Revelation* players to switch to gog, but also allowing many new players who have never been exposed to similar games to choose gog as their first try!

...

In the office, Pei Qian looked at the netizens' discussions, feeling both happy and worried.

He was happy that the money was spent.

He was worried that he hadn't expected that what was originally just money thrown into the water would create such a big splash!

Everyone's reaction seemed a little too enthusiastic...

But thinking about it again, it made sense. For a game that had only been online for a few days to be giving away money so frantically was, if not unprecedented, then definitely rare.

The key was that the game had just launched, and most people had a sense of僥幸 (jiǎoxìng) (lucky) mentality.

If this was an old game that had been online for three or four years, then most players would have a basic understanding of their own skills. They would know very well that they were just Bronze or Silver level players, and they wouldn't have unrealistic fantasies like "I can reach Grand Master," nor would they come to make a fool of themselves.

But now it was different. Everyone was starting from scratch, and everyone felt that they were one of the 1,000 lucky ones, and that they only needed to grind for a little over a week to see results. This mentality was driving players to enter the gog game one after another...

Pei Qian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He didn't know what the next settlement cycle would be like. Perhaps the situation would be quite difficult to deal with.

But no matter what, it was always good to be able to drag things out until the next cycle.

Currently, the only good news seemed to be that the sales of *BeQuiet* weren't good, and it was a long way from recouping its costs.

"I should be able to rest easy for two days, right?"

Pei Qian let out a sigh of relief and opened Aili Island to watch a couple of silly videos and relax a little.

But as soon as he refreshed the page, he saw Joe Old Wet's new video on the homepage.

Godly Work Series Part Three: *BeQuiet*, A Top Game Producer's Care and Pride!

With a "smack," Pei Qian threw his phone far away.

He held his forehead with his hand and closed his eyes tightly.

It's over, the nightmare is back!

Pei Qian still remembered the fear of being dominated by Joe Old Wet's "Godly Work" series videos when he made *Game Producer* and *A Change of Heart*.

He had thought that gog would be the one to get shot this time. Anyway, gog was already so popular that it didn't need Joe Old Wet's video to add fuel to the fire.

But he never expected that Joe Old Wet wouldn't go after Tengda Games, but would go after Shang Yang Games instead!

Pei Qian was speechless. Did he have to be so picky?

*BeQuiet* was the only seedling he had left, and he still wouldn't let it go?

And what was with the "Godly Work" title? Three episodes had been released, and they were all about him?

Had he ever heard of the same person being deified three times?

That's ridiculous!

Even if he was particularly fond of his games, he should please change companies halfway through. He can't keep薅羊毛 (hāoyángmáo) (fleecing a sheep) just one sheep!

Pei Qian complained wildly in his heart, but after calming down, he silently picked up his phone again.

Although he was unwilling, he still had to watch this video. He couldn't be an ostrich. He had to know what Joe Old Wet was praising him for so that he could silently correct himself next time and make sure he didn't make the same mistake again.

"Although I know better than anyone else that you're talking nonsense, I'll reluctantly take a look..."

Pei Qian pressed the play button with great resentment.

...

"Hello, viewers and fathers, it's still your Joe Old Wet."

"As you can see from the title, the game I'm going to talk about today is *BeQuiet*, also known as the game *Shh!*"

"Recently, this game has caused quite a bit of controversy online because of its unique pre-purchase conditions. Many fans have been sending me private messages, hoping that I can express my opinion on this."

"As you all know, since the Arg puzzle of this game came out, I have been very excited to participate in it. To be honest, the first player to solve the puzzle and enter this game was none other than yours truly. Ah, I'm so sorry."

"After experiencing this game with high intensity, I feel that the 'Godly Work' series can finally usher in a new episode!"

"So, please join Joe Old Wet in uncovering the mysterious veil of this game. Are you ready?"

...

After watching this opening, Pei Qian only felt exhausted.

This Joe Old Wet must have misinterpreted his meaning again because of some setting in the game that he had come up with on a whim!

Because he had been tricked twice before, Pei Qian was all too familiar with Joe Old Wet's tricks.

But even if he knew the tricks, it was useless, because the content of the same tricks was different every time...

Fans just loved to watch Joe Old Wet interpret games in different ways. What could he do?

Pei Qian was very helpless. He seemed to have foreseen what was going to happen next, but he could only grit his teeth and continue watching.

...

"Before I start analyzing this very unique online horror game, I want to evoke some memories for everyone."

"Please recall the kind of anger you felt when you first started playing *A Change of Heart*."

"Yes, that's right, please recall this anger, and then compare it to your current mood. To some extent, is there a similarity?"

"Some people may argue that it's not the same, but I must be very honest with you, no, it's the same."

"This anger can be summed up in one sentence: The world didn't develop as I expected, so I'm very angry."

"In *A Change of Heart*, we expected to play a hack-and-slash game. We hoped that, like other games, we could choose an easy difficulty and plow through with a mighty weapon. However, the first monster on the grave taught us a lesson, so we felt angry."

"It's the same in the game *BeQuiet*. We hope to directly buy the game and start playing, without any preparation steps. However, the developer requires us to complete a pre-puzzle and perform an eyeball capture mini-game to obtain the purchase qualification, so we feel angry."

"To this I want to say that the same thing depends on how we look at it."

"You can see it as an obstacle, or you can see it as a kind of guidance and teaching."

"I'll give you two simple examples."

"In many competitive games, we are forced to undergo新手教学 (xīnshǒu jiāoxué) (newbie tutorials) after entering the game, which cannot be skipped. Newbie players are not allowed to play games with expert players."

"And in real life, if we want to drive, we must go through a very complicated driving test."

"Many people will say that it's not the same. Driving will endanger the lives and health of others, while games won't cause harm to others."

"I want to ask, are you sure? Are you sure that playing games can't cause harm to others?"

"We often say that we are not afraid of god-like opponents, but we are afraid of豬隊友 (zhū duìyǒu) (pig-like teammates). Think about those experiences where you were坑 (kēng) (pitted) by pig teammates. Isn't mental damage damage?"

"If you spend money to buy a game and invest a lot of energy in it, but your gaming experience is ruined by many players who don't know how to play or are unwilling to learn, will you be angry? Will you feel that your money and time have been wasted?"

"*BeQuiet*'s approach is to guide and train players before entering the game, and it's different from those guides that appear after entering the game. This game doesn't ask you for a cent."

"Why are there these restrictions in ranked matches? Because the gameplay is complex and requires all players in the局 (jú) (match) to be proficient in the rules in order to deliver a perfect match and ensure the gaming experience of everyone in the局 (jú) (match). Once there is a weakness, it will instantly崩盤 (bēngpán) (collapse) the balance of the局 (jú) (match), completely depriving the other nine people of the fun of the game."

"And *BeQuiet* happens to be such a complex game. It's not friendly to beginners, but when everyone is proficient in the rules, you can get the perfect gaming experience!"
Hu Die Lan
Chapter 1 The Beginning
Qing Shan Qu Zui